Compared to nearly all other stadiums of the 2018 World Cup, the Kaliningrad one is by far the most modest. Is that a bad choice? Not necessarily, it seems like the most sensible one for sure.

Today we invite you to see the presentation of future Kaliningrad stadium. It’s almost like déjà vu, because we’ve already done that twice. However, both previous visions proved too complicated, bold and expensive.

Works on the stadium’s conceptual part took so long that now meeting  FIFA’s last deadline of late 2017 is barely possible, if possible at all. That’s why the stadium was completely redesigned to make it as simple and fast to build as possible. Most of the structure will be prefabricated with concrete and steel.

Construction is far behind any schedules. So far only site clearance was carried out and that happened long before this concept was actually commissioned. Russian sports ministry demanded that all stadiums change status to “under construction” by the end of 2014, but in Kaliningrad this hasn’t happened.

The outcome of implemented changes is by far the most modest of all World Cup stadiums presented by Russian authorities. It will hold only 35,000 people (net capacity) instead of 40,000+, while architecturally it’s hardly a landmark for the charming October Island.

Changes in comparison to two previous visions are very drastic. Multi-use pavilions in each corner were dropped. The same happened to retractable and adjustable roof structure. Outer wrap was to be of glass, then folded membrane and now seems like a simple mesh.

Still, the new renderings present a disciplined stadium, better matching local demand than the futuristic and iconic visions before. Also, it may prove to be also by far the cheapest venue for the 2018 World Cup. With Russia’s current financial status and construction delays, this seems to be the only way of keeping Kaliningrad within the host list.

Below you’ll find the new stadium’s outer appearance compared to two previous ones: